NRA Teens Can’t Anonymously Challenge Florida Gun Laws, Judge Says

NRA Teens Can’t Anonymously Challenge Florida Gun Laws, Judge Says

A man in an NRA hat (who didn’t want to give his name) speaks at a March For Our Lives event on March 24 in West Palm Beach, Fla. A federal judge in Florida has decided that the National Rifle Association cannot use pseudonyms for teenagers who want to buy guns as part of a legal challenge against new gun laws in Florida. The judge expressed sympathy for the teenagers, acknowledging that they probably would suffer extreme harassment if their names were public. But, he wrote with evident reluctance, the law was clear that pseudonyms were not allowed. The NRA has one week to either add names to the lawsuit, or remove the teenagers as plaintiffs from the case. In March, Florida’s governor signed a new law tightening gun restrictions — raising the minimum age for gun purchases to 21, among other things. The changes came after passionate advocacy from survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February. The NRA is challenging the new age limit, saying 18-year-olds are adults with a constitutional right to bear arms — and old enough to "fight and die by arms" in the military. It said the law is particularly unfair to young women, who are very unlikely to perpetrate violent crime. Originally, no individuals were named in the suit — it just described "NRA members" in general. But the gun rights organization later added "John Doe" and "Jane Doe," 19-year-old Floridians who would like to own […]